ALBUM REVIEW: I Concur – Able Archer
Words: Gareth O’Malley
‘So here it is. Two years’ hard work, enough trips down the M1 to last a lifetime and five seasons of The Wire later, this is our debut album.’
Formed during the final months of 2006, Leeds band I Concur consists of Tim Hann (vocals/guitar), James Brunger (drums/vocals), Toby Page (bass) and Chris Woolford (guitar). I suppose the band’s sound could best be described by what they themselves have said they’ve been influenced by: Slowcore, indie and post-rock. Bands such as The National, Wilco, Mogwai and Low.
Leeds has been a hotbed for talent in recent years (This Et Al, ¡Forward, Russia! etc), and is still going strong (Grammatics, The ABC Club). Here is another band that the county can be proud of. ‘Able Archer’ (so titled because of this) is a great debut. It was produced by James Kenosha, he of producing-just-about-every-half-decent-Leeds-band fame. The man is everywhere at once, it would seem.
We’ve had a lot of great opening tracks this year, but ‘Iterate This’ has to be one of the finest. The hairs stand up on the back on my neck every time the heavily-distorted vocals enter, if I’m quite honest. A blistering yet all too brief wall of noise (though there is a fully fleshed-out version of it available – and it’s one of the songs of the year).
The album’s been described as ‘ten tall tales concerning lands severed by motorways, languages lost by ignorance and leaders taking lesser mortals to the brink of nuclear extinction’, and the listener certainly gets that sense when listening to, say, lead single ‘Sobotka’. Written about one of the central characters from TV series ‘The Wire’, its lyrics could apply to quite a number of things: ‘I won’t give you up anything / Because you have nothing here that I want’, Hann sings, as the song builds over four minutes to an excellent finale.
The lyrics seem to be more than a little politically-minded here, in fact. ‘Grandeur’, as its title would imply, is about lofty ambitions, and higher powers too: ‘You forced our hand, you made us play, so you learned the hardest way’. An unsettling account of a character who’s let their desires get the better of them, it is driven by pounding drums and a great guitar line.
The album’s title track also serves as its centrepiece. The watertight rhythm section of Page and Brunger propells the track before it explodes into life around two minutes in, with a breathtaking instrumental passage. This section is reprised later in the track as it grinds to a halt. ‘Able Archer’’s more about the musicianship than anything else. There’s little in the way of lyrics over these five minutes, and the song works all the better for it.
There are less full-on moments here, and it is on two of these that I Concur really excel. The mid-tempo post-rock feel of the highlight ‘Build Around Me’ complements its lyrics: ‘Let’s play mind games between ourselves/ There’s no-one else for miles around … There’s no negotiation or debate / Just build around me’. The track really highlights Brunger’s prowess as a drummer, too.
The other of these that deserves mention is the acoustic guitar-led penultimate track ‘Decimal Places’. ‘We’ve gone over the paper released to the press / You know what I’m gonna say, what’s coming next‘. It turns out that the song is actually about the mistakes of the South Korean stem cell scientist Woo Sung Hwak. You couldn’t make this up. They have to be commended on the subject matter. The song itself has single written all over it.
I was unsure if I Concur could maintain the high standard of songwriting over a full album. My doubts seem to have been foolish. This is a highly rewarding listen. I’d keep my eye on this lot, if I were you.
9.1
mp3: Build Around Me [alt]
TRACK REVIEW: Grammatics – Double Negative
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Non-album singles are often ventures by bands into entirely new areas. They’re not meant to ‘fit’ on a certain album, instead bridging the gap between one record and the next. Grammatics have been one of the bands to look out for this year. The band’s self-titled debut has managed to keep every ounce of its power, sounding as fresh as ever even now, seven months on from its release. However, the band aren’t exactly known for resting on their laurels, and ‘Double Negative’ was recorded over the summer (the original line-up of the band still intact, we’ll assume – Dominic Ord left the band in August), James Kenosha once again on production duties, and once again doing a fantastic job.
Rory O’Hara’s bass and Ord’s eyebrow-raising drumming drive ‘Double Negative’, a song which, while still sounding quite like the band we have come to know, hints at the band moving in a more streamlined direction. That’s not to say they’re sticking to a formulaic song structure, though.
Frontman Owen Brinley’s lyrics are as eloquent as ever (‘I’ve no lucid conversation now my every thought bears an abstraction’ among them), and cellist Emilia Ergin turns in a rather striking performance, keeping things just the right side of dramatic. There’s even some yelping from Brinley during the bridge, something that will remind older fans of his days in Colour of Fire.
Highlighting the vital importance of the rhythm section, ‘Double Negative’ is definitely a step forward for Grammatics. The next one, though, will be very important indeed: there are so many directions they could go in, after all.
mp3 [alt]
ALBUM REVIEW: Grammatics – Grammatics
Words: Gareth O’Malley
Grammatics have been on the go for a while, you know. Almost three years now, in fact. They’ve gone through various line-up changes and are now a four-piece, consisting of Owen Brinley, Emilia Ergin, Rory O’Hara and Dominic Ord. They are also one of the many outstanding bands to come out of Leeds in recent years, along with Duels, ¡Forward, Russia! (who are on hiatus) and the now-sadly-departed This Et Al. It seems that the Leeds music scene is thriving at the moment, actually – Pulled Apart By Horses, The ABC Club, Dinosaur Pile-Up and I Concur all hail from there… and that’s just off the top of my head.
Grammatics’ sound has evolved steadily over the last while. On the ‘Verity & Reverie’ EP, released in Japan in 2007, they sounded like Cursive – which was a good thing, obviously. Then, as singles were released, they began to sound a lot more like, well, themselves. ‘New Franchise’, especially, showed us that the band were constantly trying new things.
‘The Vague Archive’ was the first proper single from the album, a ‘Verity & Reverie’ track re-recorded and beefed up by James Kenosha, a producer who seems to be working with everyone these days. It is probably the poppiest song on the record. Grammatics aren’t a band who do things by the numbers, however, and the song is transformed about two-thirds of the way in, becoming an altogether more sombre affair.
Released on Dance to the Radio, the album opens with Interpol-esque swells of guitar, heralding ‘Shadow Committee’, one of the best openers I have heard in a while. For many, the band’s signature song, it is a statement of intent, as all great openers on debut albums should be.
Rory and Dominic, the bassist and drummer, respectively, form the band’s rhythm section and work extremely well together, especially on ‘D.I.L.E.M.M.A.’. Each member, however, has their own ‘moment’ on this album – Owen’s duet with Laura Groves on ‘Relentless Fours’ (more on this song later), Emilia’s cello part on ‘Broken Wing’ (particularly during the song’s climax, after Owen switches to falsetto – those three 
seconds directly after the first line define the song for me), Rory’s bass riff after the first chorus on ‘Rosa Flood’, and Dominic… well, he has a few, actually, but his inventive drum pattern on ‘Murderer’ is a particular highlight.
‘Broken Wing’, a former b-side, is one of the two ballads on offer here, along with ‘Cruel Tricks of the Light’. While the latter is a more subdued track, the former is a dramatic song which seems to give out midway into the song, setting up an acoustic bridge, before a climax that is both beautiful and devastating.
You would be forgiven for thinking that it was the album’s centrepiece, as a matter of fact. However, its power is nothing when compared to what follows it. ‘Relentless Fours’ is far and away the best thing the band have recorded to date. The Radiohead comparisons the band have received have resulted in it being likened to ‘Paranoid Android’ off ‘OK Computer’, and I can certainly see the similarities. However, whereas ‘Paranoid Android’ rocked out all too briefly, ‘Relentless Fours’ goes all the way up to eleven. Brinley reckons that ‘Everyone loves a breakdown’ as the song, built on a riff that will remain in your head for days after you’ve heard it, bursts into life. Then, after a section that is practically a capella, we hear a squeal of feedback, and drums. The section of the song that follows is the heaviest we have heard Grammatics thus far, and it is nothing short of mind-blowing. As everything comes crashing down, the riff, a tape loop, briefly reappears, and then the song finishes. Seven minutes of Grammatics doing what they do best.
I’m not going to lie, the album is an exhausting listen, and ‘Inkjet Lakes’ hits the spot perfectly after the chaotic ‘Relentless Fours’. Laura Groves also appears on this track, which is made what it is by Dominic’s drumming and Rory’s bass work.
‘Rosa Flood’ is the ace in the pack, however. The shortest song on the record, it showcases Brinley’s guitar skills, and is one of the standout tracks here – think you can guess the other.
‘Swan Song’, as befits a band like Grammatics, is cinematic in nature, morphing into something quite different after the second chorus, and brings the album to a close in style, as Dominic’s drums once again seem ready to burst through the speakers.
There is only one flaw I can think of, and that is the inclusion of a hidden track after ‘Swan Song’. It doesn’t seem to fit in when you consider the epic nature of the closer, but it isn’t a big deal when you think of everything that’s gone before it.
Coming in at just over an hour in length, ‘Grammatics’ is by no means immediate. It is a rewarding listen, however, and will reveal itself to you over time.
Grammatics have set the bar for 2009. Talented musicians all, they have created something which is worthy of all the praise it has received. Simply put, this is the best debut album I have heard in years. Do yourself a favour and give this record some of your time. You won’t regret it, trust me.
9.4
mp3: Grammatics – Rosa Flood (zShare)
TRACK REVIEW: Grammatics – Time Capsules And The Greater Truth
words: Gareth O’Malley
Grammatics are a band who have been getting quite an amount of critical acclaim recently. Many well-known music websites have fallen head over heels in love with their debut, self-titled, album, which is released via Dance To The Radio on March 23rd. Having heard it, I must say that I find it worthy of all the praise, and will be letting you know my thoughts on it in more detail in a few weeks.
The single preceding the album is a double A-side, featuring two tracks markedly different from each other. On one side, we have ‘Shadow Committee’, a re-recorded fan favourite, all riffs and operatic vocals, and to me the quintessential Grammatics song. On the other, we have the track which is the focus of this review, a new song entitled ‘Time Capsules and the Greater Truth’.
The start of the song is not dissimilar to the start of The Shins’ ‘Pink Bullets’, but there the similarities end, and we are quickly onto the first verse. Lead vocalist Owen Brinley is on form here. His lyrics seem quite hard to make out on this track, yet his vocals are spot on, particularly when, two and a half minutes in, a cello and a muted bass drum enter – “And I might feel something now, even if it’s a lie, there’s a greater truth emerging” – and the song reaches its climax when harmonised vocals come in. A ballad, the song is a departure from the Grammatics ’sound’, if you will, yet it is nonetheless powerful. Highly recommended.
81%
mp3: Grammatics – Time Capsules And A Greater Truth (zshare)
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